Greater Manchester drug gang jailed after EncroChat network cracked

Four men who imported cocaine and heroin worth millions were sentenced at Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court after police accessed the EncroChat network.

Four men jailed over £2m-a-month drugs operation in Greater Manchester

Four members of a Greater Manchester drug gang have been sentenced to prison terms ranging from five years and eight months to 14 years, after police cracked the encrypted EncroChat phone network they relied on to run their operation. BBC News reports that Thomas Bradley, Nathan Lobley, Paul Taylor and Craig Ganson imported and distributed large quantities of cocaine and heroin, collectively turning over more than £2m a month between March and May 2020.

Greater Manchester Police (GMP) said the group were identified through their EncroChat handles after officers gained access to the criminal network in June 2020. The handles exposed not only their identities but also the full scale of their dealing.

Bradley, 33, of Mellaliey Street in Middleton, Rochdale, was described by GMP as someone who collected cash from 20 other encrypted handles on an almost daily basis. Investigators established he gathered approximately £5.8m between 16 March and 31 May 2020. After his exposure he fled and remained at large for nine months before being arrested on 3 December 2022 at Holyhead upon returning to the UK. He was jailed for nine years for conspiracy to supply Class A and B drugs and money laundering.

Lobley, of Ashfield Drive in Manchester, arranged to take possession of 19kg of cocaine valued at just under £800,000 and also arranged to supply a revolver to a third party. He received the longest sentence of the four — 14 years — for conspiracy to supply Class A and B drugs, and for supplying a firearm and ammunition.

Ganson, 44, of Fernhurst Street in Chadderton, Oldham, was identified as a wholesale regional supplier of cocaine and heroin who purchased at least 11kg of cocaine and 2kg of heroin from his suppliers. He was sentenced to seven years and 10 months for conspiracy to supply Class A drugs.

Taylor, 46, of Windermere Road in Middleton, Rochdale, purchased 1kg of cocaine on 21 April 2020 for £37,000 and passed £80,390 to Bradley during the same period. He was sentenced to five years and eight months for conspiracy to supply Class A drugs and money laundering.

All four were sentenced at Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court on Thursday.

Detective Constable David Grimshaw, who led the investigation, described the case as "complex" but said the gang's reliance on EncroChat had ultimately been their undoing. "These men thought they were hiding behind an encrypted communication system that would mean identifying them would be difficult, but it wasn't," he said. "They openly communicated through this system, which has led to them going straight to prison."

Source: BBC News